Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No: it's the iPad mini's touchscreen. Apple's 7.9-inch iPad (which, you'll remember, is expected to be refreshed in the coming weeks) continues to offer the fastest touchscreen of all top-tier tablets, according to a recent study.
The news comes in the form of a benchmark survey from the app-streaming company Agawi, which explains that out of the 9.7-inch iPad, the iPad mini, Microsoft's Surface, and a number of leading Android-powered tablets - including the Kindle Fire HD - Apple's iPad mini offered the most responsive touchscreen.
Agawi notes:

In a result that’s perhaps now unsurprising, the iOS devices are more responsive than its competitors. Interestingly, the iPad mini – with its smaller screen and 1024×768 resolution – performs similarly to the larger fourth generation iPad and its 2048×1536 resolution, suggesting that responsiveness is not reduced by the larger screen size or resolution.

Indeed, the results are somewhat unsurprising, given that a similar investigation conducted in September indicated that Apple's iPhone offers the most responsive smartphone touchscreen on the market.
Here's how the seven different tablets tested compare:
[caption id="attachment_472781" align="aligncenter" width="642"] Source: Agawi.[/caption]
Of course, improvements could reach the market with Apple's second-generation iPad mini. As a reminder, Apple is reportedly planning on holding a media event on Oct. 22, at which the Cupertino, Calif. company will announce its new lines of tablet computers.
The 7.9-inch iPad mini 2 is expected to launch with a Retina display, a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, and a 64-bit Apple A7 processor. It could therefore be that the presence of the A7 processor in Apple's iPad mini 2 results in an even faster touchscreen.
Agawi concludes its investigation thus:

Conclusion: if you primarily use your tablet for reading, watching videos or browsing the web, then shop around and pick the best tablet – iOS, Android, Windows 8 – that suits your needs. With their lower price points and high PPI screens you may find an Android tablet works perfectly for you. If, however, you’re into latency-sensitive applications like games or interactive music apps, then your best bet might be an iPad.